While it's safe to say Ireland's shock loss to England on Saturday has caused quite the upset in the world of rugby, Bernard Jackman has revealed that it shouldn't have been particularly surprising after Ireland's run of 'very lucky' and 'average' performances.
Andy Farrell's men headed into Saturday's fixture as heavy favourites, with fans and pundits alike ranking England's chances of an upset at close to nil.
However, an underwhelming Irish showing and a surprisingly impressive running performance from the English saw the away side shellshocked at Twickenham, with a last-minute Marcus Smith drop goal proving to be the difference between the teams.
With the debate rumbling over what went wrong and what could've been, over Ellis Genge's potential red card on Furlong or whether Conor Murray should've kicked the ball or not, it's hard to know where to look.
However, minimising individual moments, Jackman has provided an insightful explanation of why we shouldn't be shocked after our run of 'very lucky' performances.
9 March 2024; Ireland players, including Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris, Conor Murray and Jack Conan after their side's defeat in the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
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Bernard Jackman convinced Ireland have gotten lucky in Six Nations
Speaking to Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode on The Rugby Pod, Bernard Jackman explained how Ireland were lucky against France, flattered by Italy and made look average by New Zealand and England, despite claims from the rugby community that they were the best team in the world.
Jackman's comments arose when Hamilton put it to him that Ireland had been good but not amazing and that maybe to the likes of Jackman, this has been predictable. While Jackman said he predicted an Ireland win, he didn't disagree with Hamilton's sentiment telling the podcast:
I think we were very lucky. We played France week one and they were brutal.
Italy, I met the assistant coach before the game he said 'we don't see any obvious weaknesses in Ireland that we can attack, but we have got a plan for the games that come' and in fairness we won 36-0 but I think that score probably flattered us a bit.
Wales we just saw it this afternoon, Wales are young, they're giving everything they have, but they just don't have the tools to compete. Ireland's game: if you let us play we'll rip you apart, and to be honest Wales and Italy don't have the power to stop us. France do but they weren't in the right frame of mind.
That was gonna be the test and the All Blacks in fairness stopped us at source, the likes of Ardie Savea and Sam Cane they slowed down our breakdown and made us look average and scored some great tries against us and England did the same thing.
While some might disagree with Bernard Jackman's sentiment here, France's results after the Ireland game have shown a dip in form. Wales are yet to record a win, making Ireland's 36-0 defeat of Italy possibly their most commendable performance so far.
With Ireland set to take on Scotland next weekend, with the Six Nations title on the line, Irish fans will be hoping that Andy Farrell's men can improve on their 'average' performances and get over the line.
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